ACLU Sues For Religious Rights On Behalf of Detained Sikh Refugee

The ACLU in San Francisco announced today a suit filed on behalf of Harpal Singh Cheema, a Sikh who fled to the United States seeking asylum from persecution in India. Cheema's asylum claim has been wending its way through administrative and judicial hearings for many years. Immigration authorities placed Cheema in custody pending action on his asylum application. In 2002, he was transferred to the Yuba County Jail. Jail authorities have refused to allow Cheema to leave his bed wearing his turban, even though a central tenet of his religion is keeping his head covered. In the full complaint, the ACLU alleges that this violates Mr. Cheema's federal and state constitutional rights to free exercise of religion as well as the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.